Community Question | Your Favourite Decade Of Formula One?

[Nick Hill]

Wow, what a great question...reading through the comments, I am far from alone in finding it very hard to choose. It would be 60's, 90's, or 00's for me. I ultimately went with the 00's because that represents my favorite decade of cars and that's when my favorite drivers made their names (Kimi and Jenson). First half of the decade was obviously the Schumi show, but the second half had some great variety and some of the best storylines in the history of the sport - Alonso going back to back, the totally bonkers 07 season, Hamilton exploding onto the scene, the emergence of Red Bull Racing, Brawn GP, etc.

90's would be a sentimental pick for me, because that's when I first became aware of F1. I remember setting my VCR (!!!) to record the races on ESPN. As an American, F1 was really no more or less of a "thing" in the USA then than it is now, but Nigel Mansell got my attention! IndyCar was DEFINITELY a "thing" at that point in time and Mansell was nothing short of a driving GOD as far as I was concerned! That got me researching (pre Internet!) where this space alien came from...and that opened my eyes to F1. I was a big Schumi fan back then, I even had a really sweet Benetton racing t-shirt! I really thought I was Mr Sophisticated wearing that! The Schumacher appeal was very simple in my angst-ridden teenage brain: anyone pissing everyone off this bad has got to be my kind of guy! I also loved having V8s, V10s, and V12s. I thought it was so cool learning to recognize the different sounds.

The 60's were before my time but, like many others, I haven't let that stop me from developing a fondenss for that era. For me, it's down to the legendary driver roster, but also the incredible time of technological transition that decade represented. Monocoques and wings! The genius of Colin Chapman - as far as I'm concerned, the greatest F1 car designer of all time. So inventive, so aggressive! The advent of racing slicks in the early 70's changed everything, but in the 60's you could still see the drivers trying to wrangle these ever more sophisticated cars on sloppy ply bias tires. Really spectacular to see those glorious machines yaw their way around the curves.

But, yeah, sticking with 00's.

 

[Vomit]

pre senna crash for me, too many chicanes, grooved tires. much safer now though.

older circuits generally seem more enjoyable to race if you can find them.

 

[gamer19]

That's actually what I wanted to vote as well. Though I might end it at 95, or drag it to 97. I don't see much difference between 96 and 97.

Except if you're Villeneuve fan.
However, although proudly being one of those, I've voted for '80.

I mean....

look at them @@

 

[TheSourceOfTheNile]

Best era would either be 65-69 or 2009-2013. The best year by far was 2012. Seven different race winners in the first seven races, Schumacher with Mercedes getting his greatest pole lap at Monaco, Alonso nearly winning the championship in the final event by just a few points, Lotus finishing 3rd in the WDC, great sounding engines, and a bunch of competitive teams on the grid.

 

[Michel vL]

The 90s had the most beautiful cars for sure.

 

[Kevin Bradley]

The 90's (but then everything was better in the 90's!!!).

As others have said though, all decades have their merits. I really got into f1 around 1991 so I'm too young to remember the 60's and 70's first hand.

To be honest it's hard to compare modern f1 with the early years of the championship as it was almost a different sport back then in contrast to what it is today. Look at the difference now in terms of track design, car technology, rules and safety aspects. I don't necessarily mean in a either a good way or bad way if the old stuff is your thing; it's just very different and hard to compare.

 

[pitkin]

I went with 80's because that was when I became interested in F1. But there's so much to like elsewhere. 60's had the best looking cars for me (pre wings), but I love the far out designs of the 70's machines. Everything up to mid 90's looked good, but now they are pretty much carbon copies of each other.

Driver wise, it has to be 80's. Senna, Mansell, Prost, Piquet, Lauda, Berger, so many legendary names to me. My favourite all time driver though is Alonso, I would love to see his gritty determination and outspokenness in the era where anything goes.

As for circuits, any decade from the pre Tilke era. After the Imola accident in '94, it started to become very sanitised. Circuits were becoming less interesting, losing the fast corners surrounded by gravels traps. This has progressed to the tarmac runoffs we have now, which basically let drivers off of numerous errors every race. Mansell left the track at Suzuka in '91 in a last gasp effort to keep the championship alive and it ended his chances. Had it happened today, it would have been a non incident and the fight would have continued.

90's had the best sound. I was lucky enough to visit Silverstone a few times in the 90's and witnessed the sound of the v12 Ferrari. Man that is something that will probably never be heard, and indeed felt by younger fans. A screaming, howling monster that is just unbelievable. What you hear on TV or internet videos will never do it justice. I consider myself lucky to have been there.

All in all, it get less interesting for me as it gets more regulated. How I'd love to go back to the days where 35 cars were trying to get a place on the grid.

 

[turbo86]

The question is a bit vague. Best for F1 as a sport? Best for F1 as a spectacle?

Best for F1 as a motorsport was obviously the 00s. Better performance, better safety, more innovation, bigger budgets etc.
Best for F1 as a spectacle was from the 70s all the way to the 90s, hands down. F1 was a huge reality show back then, not just a motorsport.

Anyway my vote goes to the 90s. In my opinion it was the peak of F1 as a spectacle. Tons of drama, drivers were LEGENDARY , cars were SEXY. I only wished TV coverage was a bit better but it was quite good. Some on-board cameras were far better than anything we got later.

Then in the 00s everything became too serious. Budgets went trough the roof, cars became more complicated, faster but also safer. TV coverage was nice too. But still there was something missing from the whole show. It was like it's very soul was gone.

 

[motoliser]

Schumacher era for me. He had the biggest number of duels in F1 History! Hamilton is getting close but without the influence drivers had on the results back then. Also Schumacher never lost a title to his team mate.

 

[BrettSinclair1]

Utterly impossible to answer!

 

[BrunoBæ]

As an American, F1 was really no more or less of a "thing" in the USA then than it is now, but Nigel Mansell got my attention! IndyCar was DEFINITELY a "thing" at that point in time and Mansell was nothing short of a driving GOD as far as I was concerned! That got me researching (pre Internet!) where this space alien came from...and that opened my eyes to F1.

Oh yeah when Mansell as the reining F1 champion went to US and in his first try won the CART/Indycar championship he became a living god
Mansell and his managers completely overrun the senior teammate Andretti in the american team - something Andretti never did forgive Mansell.

Mansells showmanship on the other side of the pond had also a great impact of the americans interrest in F1 - because it was a bit difficult for the CART/Indycar fans to explain how a simple F1 fella could just arrive in US and then like piece of cake win "their" championship.

CatsAreTheWorstDogs: I have to show Mansell as taxi driver for Senna after the British GP 1991 - where I was sitting in Club Corner on my plastic camping chair

 

[PottoGadd]

1965 to 1985 are the best twenty years for cars and tracks in motorsports, give or take a year.

 

[guidofoc]

I pick the 80s as they include both Villeneuve with the crazy turbo "miniskirt" cars, Lauda, Mansell, Piquet, and also the rivalry between Prost and Senna.

 

[AngryWolfCorey]

80s. Last decade where the cars could look drastically different than each other especially the Brabhams.

Although I agree with the others that posted mid-80s to mid-90s for actual best period.

 

[ShredatorFIN]

To be honest, the oldest ones. 50's and 60's. They are the most fun I have in sims, if I choose formula cars. Because they are looser, not much grip, and driven in different manner, where a drift isn't necessarily a bad thing. Never was a fan of modern Formulas. My brain is not just handling the laser speed, and the most modern F1 cars sound bad, now also look bad with halo (while I understand and support the use of halo).

F3 in Automobilista is pretty fun, the lower aero one. Because it's slightly loose, and the power doesn't make it a laser missile. AMS2 has also great historic formulas

Formula V10 and V12 sound great though.

 

[Michel Bélisle]

I would have picked the 80's but Gilles Villeneuve died in 1982. I went 70's instead.

 

[smasha]

80’s and 90’s for me because F1 was largely ignored in the 70’s by broadcasters here in Australia,I still love todays F1,the strategy of it,there have been some magnificent races.

I miss the wasp like sound of the old cars.

The Corona virus has made me realise how much I miss it.

I also do love the 70’s,I found an awesome doco on you tube about the Williams team and the ground effect which features Alan Jones,the pitcrew walking round topless with shorts and thongs(flip flops)having a ciggie while working on an engine,different times back then but I miss that era before sport became very corporatised.

All the different suspension designs to escape penalties ,that Brabham car with the fan behind it to create enormous amounts of downforce which was scrapped pretty much immediately after Lauda stormed home by 34 secs in a race using the beast.

I miss Murray Walker and James Hunt ,the chemistry they had was incredible but I still love Brundle today and Sky Sports,which we now recieve here do a terrific job covering the races.

I just wish and hope our World is restored so that we can enjoy F1 again,the pinnacle of racing imo.

Very interested who will be the next driver to really make a name for himself like Hamilton has,maybe Leclerc?

Or Max? I would love Dan to win a WDC but my money is on LeClerc atm.

Please come back sport.

 

[Terden]

67 because of GPL.

 

[smasha]

How good was GPL?

Vroc “hold onto yer butt”

Miss those days.

Bruce Johnsons Lotus mods then all the mods after that,he was a pioneer of modding was ole Bruce,I hope he is doing ok ,I used to refresh his site eagerly awaiting what he would transform the Lotus into.

Everyone rocked Logi red Momos or the red Wingman with the belt driven ffb.

The Act Labs Shifter,the first mainstream h shifter made.

GPL gave me many great memories and made me appreciate those legends of the 60’s.

 

[Eck Simpson]

I didn't really have a favourite decade, an era or two maybe. I don't think, even with the rose tinted specs on, there was a real open era. They were always dominated by a manufacturer (or garagista) or two. Choosing a decade was therefore, a right pita. I settled on the 70's, I'm old enough to have watched them on the telly. The 80's began well, I even liked the tiny sidepods when ground effect was banned (oh, how times change) The begining of the end came when Bernie began to get involved in the overall business of F1, the manufacturer character was lost to a homogenised mess.